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“You’re the first person to say ‘Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today’, yet you always put off doing good things for yourself“, said my partner to me recently. “You don’t put off doing the dishes, or tidying up, or checking e-mails, but you never prioritise things such as yoga or reading which make you happy.”

He was so right and his words were a revelation to me. It had never crossed my mind that I shouldn’t put off the good things, too – I thought this motto only applied for chores and tasks.

I always knew that by not putting off our chores and tasks we have a better-organised life, we save time, we reduce stress. I never thought about the fact that by not putting off activities we enjoy, we …. don’t put off enjoying ourselves!

Let’s make the most of our time and prioritise at least one of our loved activities today. Let’s not put off being happy.

When asked why they would like to write a novel, most of the students in my writing class replied with reasons such as money or a change of lifestyle. No one in the class said “Because I love writing”.

Writing has become a business. In almost every issue of Writer’s Magazine there is an article explaining to readers how they can make a million pounds with their ebook, blog, self-published novel etc. One article I read recently stated that in order to have a successful book, writers must pick out a target audience before getting started and then write their book to meet their audience’s desires, in order to guarantee sales.

This purely commercial attitude to writing saddens and disheartens me. Personally, I do not write because I want to become filthy rich, but because I enjoy writing. I write about things I love or things I believe in, and I am always deeply fulfilled to finish yet another article or poem or story. Writing in itself brings me joy, and I write every day precisely because the act of writing makes me happy.

I am worried that if writers and the publishing industry continue to focus purely on sales, then future generations will never discover the fun and pleasure of writing as an art. Even today, I wonder where I could find a teacher who could teach me the beauty of written expression, rather than the technique of creating a bestseller.

If you know a writer who writes for the love of writing, send them my way! I have many things I would like to talk to them about…

I feel as if I should be celebrating or congratulating myself, but completing the Challenge has not aroused any extreme emotions in me. I guess this is for the simple reason that writing every day has come very naturally to me.

I had many fears when I started the Challenge:

I was scared that, were I to ‘force’ myself to do my loved activity every day, I would actually cease to love it.

I was also scared that I wouldn’t have the will-power to make time for writing.

Like all creative people, I was scared of discovering that I am rubbish at what I do.

And, I was scared of being so scared of all of these things, that my fear would block me from writing.

Now, four months later, I laugh at these fears and thank God that I decided to overcome them.

I never “forced” myself to write every day – I encouraged myself to do it and really enjoyed every moment that I put aside for writing. I never “forced” myself to write anything in particular, either. Every time I sat down to write, I would let my fantasy, my ideas and my emotions express themselves as they wished. Seeing as I always wrote what I enjoyed, I always enjoyed writing it!

I realised that I didn’t necessarily need to put aside an hour for writing every day – even fifteen minutes is enough. In fifteen minutes, I can write a poem, my impressions of the day and even a very short story!

Seeing as I was writing for myself and using each day as an experiment, I never judged my writing to be good or bad. Every new creation was a surprise and a progress.

Very soon into the Challenge, I realised that I enjoy writing so much that my fears fall away as my joy increases.

Pollyanna Darling, founder of the 120-day “Do What You Love Challenge”, said that we often feel guilty about doing what we love, because doing what we love has no goal apart from enjoying ourselves and feeling happy. This was my case, but paradoxically, after four months of doing what I love every day, it is precisely because of this enjoyment and happiness that I continue to write!

I would like to thank Pollyanna Darling for the wonderful idea of the 120 Day “Do What You Love” Challenge. I thank her for encouraging her readers to take part. I thank her for the happiness that writing every day has brought into my life. I thank her for the amazing writing habit that I have now acquired. I thank her for the release of my fears. And, most importantly, I thank her for having taken the step to do what she loves and for having showed us the way.

After just two weeks of writing every day, I had learned a lot about the role of writing in my life, as well as my attitudes to it.

Now, after a month of writing every day – be it a poem, a description or a philosophical idea – one main thought occupies my mind: I can’t believe that I’ve got this far!

You see, I was scared of starting the challenge for fear of not being able to complete it.

Why did I fear not being able to do something that I love?

Well, I was scared that, were I to ‘force’ myself to do my loved activity every day, I would actually cease to love it.

I was also scared that I wouldn’t have the will-power to make time for writing.

Like all creative people, I was scared of discovering that I am rubbish at what I do.

And, I was scared of being so scared of all of these things, that my fear would block me from writing.

A month into the challenge, were any of my fears realised?

Fear 1: no – I love writing even more now that I do it every day.

Fear 2: yes and no – I have made time for writing, however, I did miss one or two days of writing because I have been putting it off to the evening, when fatigue sometimes overpowers creativity.

Fear 3: no – so far, I haven’t been judging what I’ve written; I have simply been enjoying the process of writing.

Fear 4 – no – once I’m writing, I lose myself in the process and forget everything else, including my fears.

Now that I know that I can and do write every day, and that I am enjoying it, too, the next step is to set aside more time for writing. As I’ve said before, I feel guilty spending time writing, which explains why I put it off to the end of my day. Therefore, for the next month, I will set aside thirty minutes to writing first thing in the morning.

As Peter De Vries said:

“I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning”.